Saturday 7th July - Kakadu

Rock Art

Barramundi rock painting, Ubirr Kakadu NT

Travelled to Ubirr rock art galleries early this morning and managed to catch two 15 minute presentations from the ranger interpreting some of the art.

Long necked turtle rock painting, Ubirr Kakadu NT

One of the most interesting rock paintings is of a Tasmanian Tiger which is known to have been extinct on the mainland for at least 2,000 years, so some of the paintings are very old indeed. 

Man in ceremonial dress with spear, dilly bag and goose feather fan
Ubirr rock gallery, Kakadu, NT

To indigenous artists, the act of painting and telling the story was more important than preserving the finished work so it was common for the same area to be painted over and over again with different pictures.  Most of the art [that we saw today] represents moral stories or relates to aboriginal law and the rock art galleries were literally used as a classroom to teach young people.

Fresh water and sea water meet at Cahills Crossing.
East Alligator River, Kakadu/ Arnhem Land NT

Later we went to the border crossing between Kakadu and Arnhem Land on the East Alligator River.  A weir has been constructed with a concrete culvert for vehicles to drive over.  We had heard this is a good place to watch saltwater crocodiles catching barramundi when the 7 metre tide sweeps upstream and covers the crossing to a depth of about 800m at this time of the year.  Watching the tide sweep in was spectacular in itself.  The crocs lie in the water with their mouth open just catching the barramundi as they go by.  Interestingly, none of the fisherman risking becoming a menu item for the crocs by standing just above the water line managed to catch anything!

Saltie waiting for lunch.
East Alligator River, Kakadu/ Arnhem Land NT